Darrel on The Brothers Bloom

What really struck me most about this movie was it's old-fashioned sensibilities. I mean paying close attention to everything this movie looks like it could have been shot in the 30's. Had I not been paying attention to the yellow Lamborghini in it I would have thought this took place in the thirties.

I really liked the fact that this movie seems to pay homage to a lot of old school slapstick movies from the early era's. I mean look at the bowler hats and suits that both of them where. It was like stepping into a Chaplin flick. Also, through a few of Bang Bang's mannerisms I got echoes of Harpo Marx. I loved all of the little added funny happenings in the movie. Penelope constantly crashing the Lambo, Bang Bang using too much explosive on that museum. The whole group reminded me of the Marx brothers. It also seems to pay a big homage to old school crime and chase movies from these eras too. This movie has a little something for everyone.

I feel that along side this Adrien Brody is at the top of his game here. For me he's always just been "there." Always a good actor but it seemed like something was holding him back. I really enjoyed his performance in "The Jacket." This is another great one to add to his book.

Rachel Weisz(spelling?), was great in the first half of the movie as the quirky and eccentric Penelope. I loved her oddness in collecting hobbies. The only problem I had with her though is that near the end she seemed to have lost some quirk and became a little more typical.

Ruffalo was the man when it came to sleazy. I believed that he could sell ice to an Eskimo. His sense of charisma was amazing. He really did write his cons with an epic and tragic sense. Had he applied this flare for the dramatic to maybe, I don't know, literature he could have been a great writer. I actually shed a few tears in the end. He did it all for his brother, so that his brother could finally find his power over his life. The final image with him on the stage at the rundown theater was particularly striking.

That leads me to another point. The imagery in this film was amazing. Lots of nice camera tricks and transitions. None of them seemed forced at all. None of them seemed "MTV" in excess to me. They were smooth and just noticeable enough.

I think that the Brothers in their own right were tragic characters. Stephen, in the sense that he was overly tenacious with his cons. You knew that he was way too good at what he did and he knew it. So much so that you just knew that at some point this all would become real for him. Then you have Bloom. The middle man of the these cons who was doomed to never have anything be a sure bet for him. So that makes this movie straddle the genre fence. I would effectively call it a dramedy. It has just enough of each to qualify for that tag.

Great pick. I think I might buy it.